MixedInk : Collaborative Writing

What is it?
MixedInk is a free collaborative writing tool which allows groups of any size to bring the best ideas and language together in a single text. MixedInk encourages accountability by highlighting which pieces of text were written by which students, and analysis by having users rate which ideas and language is the most popular among the group working on the piece. MixedInk is available online at http://www.mixedink.com

Literacy and Technology?
Collaborative writing is an essential skill as group projects become more common in the workplace. By providing students with the opportunity and experience in collaborative writing projects, teachers can not only help students learn from one another but also help students develop necessary skills in teamwork and cooperation. Collaborative writing is difficult to achieve without the use of technologies such as wikis, blogs, Google Docs, or another similar tool for helping students collaborate on an assignment. MixedInk is another Web 2.0 tool which allows students the opportunity to share information and collaborate. However, MixedInk differs from wikis, blogs, and Google Docs in several ways, including authorship and and drafting. While traditionally difficult to track in most collaborative writing tools, authorship in MixedInk is tracked automatically and color-coded. MixedInk also enables an unlimited number of users to collaborate on a task at once, rather than only allowing a single user to to edit at a time. Drafting is not confined to a single document. MixedInk displays every user's work rather than simply displaying the most recent editor's work, allowing user's to draw ideas from a multitude of revisions no matter what stage of the drafting process.

MixedInk provides a fresh look at collaborative writing. Not only are students able to submit their own drafts, but they are able to draw upon the writing of their group members to create one cohesive piece. MixedInk is a great tool for teaching about collaboration and use of secondary sources. Through the automatic color-coded authorship feature, students learn about analyzing ideas and ethically incorporating another person's ideas with their own, thus teaching students about the concept of plagiarism and giving credit to appropriate authors. This would be a great tool to explore in the classroom and help innovate the instruction of literacy.

More ideas?
MixedInk combines community action with collaborative writing. MixedInk's website suggests some of the following ideas for writing projects which would best utilize their features: mission statements, editorials, political platforms, product reviews, and so forth.

Skype

What is it?
Skype is a software application which allows users to make voice and video calls over the Internet. Skype allows users to call anyone for free within the Skype network. Skype can also be used to make traditional phone calls internationally rather inexpensively. Skype also offers instant messaging, file transfer, and videoconferencing. Skype can be downloaded for free at http://www.skype.com

Literacy and Technology?
One of Skype's slogans is, "Skype is for doing things together, whenever you’re apart." Through Skype, people are able to remain connected. You might be asking yourself, "How does this apply to literacy?" Skype allows students to use all four basic skills (i.e. listening, speaking, writing, and reading). Students can develop their literacy skills through Skype by sharing and communicating with real audiences, and engaging in collaborative learning. Skype has an enormous potential for being "innovative" with literacy instruction and technology. One example of this potential comes from my own experience during student teaching in May 2011.

During my student teaching experience with a ninth grade English Language Arts classroom, I was teaching a descriptive writing unit. My students were struggling with this particular mode of writing, and expressed concern at the thought of completing their unit project - a descriptive essay disguised as a visitor's guidebook. In order to help my students understand not only descriptive writing but the writing process itself, I contacted a young adult fiction writer and asked if she would do a virtual author's visit to my classroom through Skype. The author was delighted. Several days prior to the author's Skype visit, I had students write three questions they would ask their favorite author about descriptive writing. I previewed the questions, selected questions that kept occurring over and over among students' papers, and e-mailed the list of questions to the author for her to prepare. The day of the visit, I arranged my students in the classroom to fit in front of the webcam I had brought in. I handed back student's question sheets and highlighted which question of their three they were going to be able to ask a real author (I highlighted the questions so each student was able to ask one of their questions and not have the same question repeat multiple times). The author visited all three of my freshmen English Language Arts classes over the course of the day. The students were excited about being able to interact with a real author and receive feedback and advice. Needless to say, the students talked about the author Skype visit for days afterwards. If I repeated this experience, I would follow-up this particular lesson with a short written reflection from each student.

Skype is a user-friendly software application that is extremely easy to learn. It is also perfect for schools that have little to no budget to spend on expensive educational software because Skype is free! It is an effective innovative teaching tool because the technology becomes virtually invisible as students interact with the person on the other end of the screen (no pun intended). Skype provides an interactive, real-time experience for students, making the experience more relevant to their own lives and education.

More ideas?
After spending a few minutes searching the Internet, I found two resources which discuss ways to innovate literacy instruction through Skype in the classroom.

(1) This website provides 50 ways to use Skype in the classroom. This may help foster ideas for your own classroom and grade-level.

50 Awesome Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom

(2) This website provides a list of authors who Skype with classes and book list clubs for FREE!!! The authors are separated into lists by elementary, secondary, and higher education. According to the website, the authors "offer free 20-minute Q and A sessions with classes and book clubs that have finished reading one of their books."

Authors Who Skype with Classes and Book Clubs (For Free)

References

50 awesome ways to use skype in the classroom [Web log message]. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.teachingdegree.org/2009/06/30/50-awesome-ways-to-use-skype-in-the-classroom/

Messner, K. (2009, May 28). Authors who skype with classes & book clubs (for free!) [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.katemessner.com/authors-who-skype-with-classes-book-clubs-for-free/

Literacy and Technology Blog - Introduction

What board does this classroom have? :)

Hello fellow classmate or complete stranger,

Before starting my blogging assignment, I thought it might be helpful to provide some insight about the perspective I will be coming from throughout the course of the semester.

I am a huge proponent for bringing literacy and technology together in the classroom. Throughout the course of my education, I was often taught to "integrate" technology into the classroom as an addition to literacy instruction. After the first day in this course, I quickly realized that the idea of "literacy and technology" is much more than "integration;" it's about innovation, being able to use new developments to change how teachers provide literacy instruction and how students learn. As I progress throughout the course and my teaching career, I hope to continue moving towards the idea of technology innovation.

My focus for literacy and technology is centered on secondary education, specifically grades 5-12. Despite having a focus on secondary education, I will attempt to make my blogs relevant to elementary education educators, as I realize that many of my classmates are certified or becoming certified in elementary education.

I hope my blogs provide ideas and information that is relevant and applicable to educators, regardless of being certified in elementary or secondary education.

-Caitlin